


Grasping at Ghosts

by brunettachoppa687, TTICSY (phantomofthefandoms)



Series: Role Reverse AU [2]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Angst and Humor, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Slow Build, these boys really need to get there act together...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-07
Updated: 2015-08-07
Packaged: 2018-04-13 10:11:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4517901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brunettachoppa687/pseuds/brunettachoppa687, https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomofthefandoms/pseuds/TTICSY
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What is it?”  he asked.  “What’s wrong?  Are you okay?  Are mom and dad–?”</p><p>“I’m fine, they’re fine!  It’s… Danny, it’s that student of mine.  It’s Vlad…  He’s in the hospital.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grasping at Ghosts

**Author's Note:**

> This is gonna be a bumpy ride folks, we get to the gnarly bits now.

BZZZ BZZZ!  BZZZ BZZZ!

“Mnn…”  Danny groaned, rolling over in bed as he was awoken by an annoying buzzing sound, rattling against his bedside table.  He pulled the sheets over his head in an attempt to get away from the sound…

BZZZ  BZZZ!  BZZZ BZZZ!

What was that?  Oh…  

Danny lowered the sheets and reached for his cell with a heavy sigh, sitting up to run a hand through his loose hair.  He huffed when he saw who was calling.

He answered the persistent call.  “Jazz, it’s early–”

“Danny…”

Danny straightened up at her tone of voice, fully awake.  “What is it?”  he asked.  “What’s wrong?  Are you okay?  Are mom and dad–?”

“I’m fine, they’re fine!  It’s… Danny, it’s that student of mine.  It’s Vlad…  He’s in the hospital.”

Danny whipped off his blankets, already hunting for his jeans and his shoes.  His hands were shaking as he tried to balance his phone against his shoulder while putting on his pants.  “What happened?  Did he pass out?  I TOLD that kid he needed to sleep and eat regu–”

“There was an explosion in the labs last night.”

Danny froze, one shoe on.  “Wh-what?”

“It was his final for his mechanics classes or something.  Danny, it EXPLODED.  He’s in the hospital in an induced coma!”

“Oh no…”  Danny put his head in his hands.  “He did it… he really did it…”

“What?”  Jazz demanded.  “What do you know?”

Danny sighed, finishing getting dressed in record time.  “He was building a Ghost Portal prototype.”

“Oh my god…”

“Listen, we’ll talk about this later, Jazz, I need to go, I need to check on him!  Who knows what could have happened to him due to this!  He could have ecto-radiation exposure or WORSE!”

“I know, I know!  Go!  But call me later, ok?”

“Of course.”  Danny hung up and pocketed the phone, along with his wallet, before going flying out of his loft.  He flew for the hospital at breakneck speed, worry and guilt fogging his mind.  He should have tried harder to stop him, should have at LEAST tried to be there!  This could be his fault, he knew, he knew what he was doing.  This was his fault!

//Dammit, kid… Why didn’t you listen to me?!  You better be okay…//

 

~*~*~

 

12 HOURS AGO…

Sirens wailed.  People talked, like a babbling brook, rushing over each other.  Everything seemed to move in slow-motion and fast-forward all at the same time.

Deep in his skull, Vlad waited patiently for it all to stop.  To slip away into darkness.

He had no choice, really, but to wait.  He couldn’t move… couldn’t speak, anyway.  And he was so tired, exhausted by all these people yelling through the black cotton stuffed into his every orifice.  Something about a heart.  Then they were talking about his lungs.  Then about his skin.  Things touched him, poked into him, and finally he stopped moving – laid down on a cot.

At this point, Vlad began to grow irritated!  Why couldn’t they just leave him alone?!  They weren’t helping…

He tried his best to fall back, to slip back into that peaceful blackness… but it was like trying to go back to sleep after a nightmare.  His body refused to settle.  Tiny pinpricks of pain made themselves known, like tiny flares, slowly spreading over his skin.  Internally, Vlad whimpered and squirmed at the pain.  But he still couldn’t move.  He still couldn’t see.  

And it only got worse… worse and worse until he felt like there was a great BONFIRE… RAGING in his core and burning his flesh up from the inside out!  

Inside his mind, Vlad screamed.  //IT’S HOT!!// he shrieked at the doctors that were bustling around him, doing everything they could to defy his wishes. 

//PUT IT OUT!  I DON’T WANT TO BE HERE!  I WANT TO GO BACK TO SLEEP!!  PUT IT OUT!//

But no one could hear him.  And he still couldn’t move.

Vlad didn’t know how long he lay like that, his screams for rest and relief falling on deaf ears.

But eventually, all the doctors left his room, and everything was silent.  He might not have been able to see or move, but he could tell his room had a window.  He could feel the sun on the side of his face – warm and pleasant as its beams crawled up his face, then cold when the moon rose, then warm when the sun ascended into the sky once more.  Those were the best and the worst moments.  Like being pinned ever so delicately in that tiny limbo between the pleasant, small sensations over his skin and the horrible, fiery pain under it.

It felt like forever.  But eventually Vlad gave up trying to sleep, resigned to this existence in limbo.

Then he heard someone new come in.

 

~*~

 

The young nurse opened her clipboard, reading off Vlad’s roster to the guest.  “Okay… Vladimir Masters, age 18, a student at Amity University.  He was involved in some kind of lab explosion.  The janitor working that night heard the bang and found him.  It was a good thing he called us immediately or the damage could’ve been a lot worse,” she continued.  “He was already malnourished and overworked on top of the damage from the explosion.  We don’t know what happened with his…”

There was a pause, probably for some kind of gesture.  “You know.”

//At least SAY it!  What happened with my WHAT?!//

“He has a raging fever, but it’s most likely from exhaustion,” the nurse continued.  “We gave him meds to keep him asleep.  I’m afraid he’s out cold.  He really won’t be able to hear you–”

“I don’t really care,” came a very familiar voice, sounding angry and exhausted, worried.  “I’m afraid I’m all he’s got, so he’s gonna have to put up with hearing my voice for awhile.”

If Vlad had any control over his body, his eyes would have flown open in shock. 

//Oh NO…!// he gasped internally.  //What in sweet soft buttery HELL is HE DOING HERE?!//

Through his panic, he heard the nurse close the clipboard.  “Anyway, I’ll leave you two alone, now,” she told Danny.  “If he happens to wake up, just press that button over there and someone will come running, okay?”

“Got it.”

There was the sound of shoes squeaking against the floor, followed by the click of the door being shut.  Then, silence.

For a moment.

“You utter IDIOT.  I TOLD you, I–”  Danny cut himself off with a sigh, the sound of his voice moving as he moved around the room.  “Damn it, Vlad…”

He had sounded angry before, now he sounded just utterly depressed, devastated even.

“I should have tried harder.  I knew what you were doing, I knew and I didn’t try harder to stop you… Oh gods, it’s my fault, why wasn’t I there?  I should have been there…”

A sniff, like Danny… Danny was crying…

“Gods, look at you now… In a coma, in pain, hurt… Your hair turned white from the explosion you know…  Ecto-radiation exposure, I’ve seen it before… Oh gods Vlad, why didn’t I stop you?”

Vlad lay there – he couldn’t do anything else, of course, but he was stunned.  Danny… cared that much?  That was… weird.  Why would he care?  Vlad was just the overworked caffeine junkie who hit on him between projects; he hadn’t even expected to get anywhere with Danny, Danny was so far out of his league!  A smoking hot twenty eight year old man with his life together, with a messed up kid like Vlad?  Yeah, right.  Vlad was in the HOSPITAL because a freaking school PROJECT exploded in his face.  He was a disaster…

//But still… he… he wouldn’t be here if he didn’t care, right?// Vlad thought to himself, a little bitterly.

At the thought, he suddenly felt a tiny hitch in the flame inside him.  A soft gasp of mixed pain and shock sounded from his lips.  “Haa…?!”

The fluorescent strips over their heads suddenly overheated and POPPED.  

**POW!**

“What the–”

Danny broke off, and turned to look curiously in Vlad’s direction.  The sudden blackout wasn’t really an inconvenience – it was a bright morning – but it did startle him.  And he could have sworn he heard him say something…  

“Faulty wiring, I guess…”  He said out loud, even though he didn’t really believe it himself.  Damn, the kid must have been hit so hard by the blast he was giving off Ghost Zone frequency.  He must be in a lot of pain…

Danny sighed heavily and walked around to stand beside Vlad’s bed.  He looked down at the younger man morosely, and placed a hand gently on his cheek.  He frowned, feeling the boys fevered skin against his naturally cool one.  He actually had to fight to keep his ice-core from rising to the surface to embrace such heat…

“Gods, you’re burning up…” he murmured, combing a hand through the white locks.  “If you can hear me in there, I want you to know that I’m sorry…”  

A slow sigh of pleasure escaped Vlad’s lips.  That internal heat flared up – but this time it was softer, more of a spreading warmth than a painful spike of heat – rising up to meet Danny’s touch.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there… That I didn’t try hard enough to stop you… I knew the risks, and still I…”

He sighed.  “I’m so sorry Vlad…”

Without even thinking, Vlad’s cheek turned, pressing into Danny’s hand.  It felt so nice… so nice and cool…

Danny’s brows furrowed at the rise in heat, only to suddenly gasp when he felt Vlad move.

“Vlad?!”  he cried, startled.  He moved his hands, grasping the younger man’s shoulder gently.  “Vlad, can you hear me?!  Please, PLEASE wake up…”

//I WANT to…// Vlad thought, his heart sinking.  //I really do, but I…!//

All at once, the fire seemed to obey an unspoken demand.  There was another spike of heat–!

And slowly, the flame seemed to liquify and spread through his veins.  Vlad’s body twitched under Danny’s hand, heat rolling off every inch of his skin as the purifying, searing fire pushed the drugs from his system.  Sweat – milky with painkillers – beaded up and rolled off his neck, throat, face, arms…

Then, Vlad shuddered violently – once – and coughed, head rolling forward.

“D-Dan… AHnnnn…!” Vlad winced in pain.  Searching out the insatiable chill that Danny gave off – the only physical comfort he could find – his sweaty forehead pressed against the older man’s neck; his chest heaved as he struggled for air.  His cloudy eyes opened.  “Wh-Wha…?”

“Holy shi– EASY Vlad, I got you!”  Danny reached out instinctively and wrapped his arms around the younger’s shoulders, helping him sit up so he could breath easier.  He quickly moved so he could sit behind Vlad on the bed, propping him up against his chest.  He let just a little bit of his chill slip out, hoping it might help calm Vlad and his fever.

“Come on, Vlad, you’re ok, I got you.  I’m here…”  His voice dropped to a whisper, and yet Vlad was still able to hear it.  “I’m here.  I’ll always be here…”

Danny brushed his sweat soaked hair from his face, motion becoming panicked once again as it hit him that Vlad was AWAKE.

“NURSE!”  Danny hollered.  “NUR– oh right, the button.  Thaaat I can no longer reach.  Perfect.”

“D-Don… Ow…!  Don’t call THEM…” Vlad gasped.  

If he had had any self-awareness at all, he would have realized he was positively sticky with sweat and probably looked even more gross than he felt, but he could only bury his head into Danny’s neck, craving more of his cool skin.  “Th-They’ll put me back THERE…” he breathed, a fresh wave of goosebumps rolling down his spine.  “I don’t want to go back there…!”

Danny shook his head, biting his bottom lip in worry.  He tightened his hold on the boy, hoping he would feel safe and secure there.  “They’re not going to put you back to sleep, Vlad, it’s okay.  They had to induce a coma to KEEP you asleep earlier while they tended your wounds, or you could have hurt yourself.  To put you back under now would be pointless and DANGEROUS.  They’ve been waiting for you to wake up…”

He frowned.  “I’VE been waiting for you to wake up…”

“I didn’t want to wake up…”

Vlad’s fingers hooked into his hospital gown – like claws that wanted to tear himself open, to gouge out the flames that kept him from sleep.  “I was so close…!” he choked.  “It hurt and I kept… I just wanted to stay in the dark…!”

Danny’s eyes were wide and filled with absolute pain and horror.  “NO!  Please, don’t say that!  PLEASE!”

Vlad’s slender shoulders trembled, hot tears pouring down his face.  “I-It was NICE there, Danny…!  You don’t understand…” he cried softly.  “It was quiet… and I didn’t have to worry about anything… it all just slipped away and I WANTED IT TO…!”

Danny wrapped his arms around Vlad even tighter, his own body beginning to shake once more with fear and the tears of regret and anguish he had been trying so hard to hold in.  “That’s not the answer, Vlad!  BELIEVE me!  It’s not the answer!” he pleaded, trying so hard to get him to listen.  “You almost died, Vlad… Don’t do this, don’t even think about–”

He choked on his words, moving to hide his face in the back of Vlad’s neck.  The boy hiccupped and leaned against him despite his words.  

“Don’t go where I can’t follow…” Danny begged, heart sinking in his chest. “I failed you once, I won’t do so again… I WON’T….”

There was a long moment where Vlad was silent…

When he finally did speak, it was so quiet Danny could barely hear him.

“…Why do you even care…?” Vlad whispered.

The boy’s fingers slowly lost their grip – sliding down his arms until they gently hit the bed.  “I’m a disaster…” he breathed, his trembling somehow easing at the words.  His body grew stiller and stiller in Danny’s arms.  “I try so hard and for what…?  What am I going to do when I get out of here…?  Go back to school?  Do I go back home?  What HOME…?”

Vlad’s voice cracked.  His entire body seized up with rage and despair.  “IT WOULD’VE BEEN BETTER IF I HAD JUST DIED!!” he sobbed into Danny’s shoulder.  “WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE?!”

The young man dissolved into tears; not a little hiccup and some crying, but real, ugly, heartbroken sobbing.  “I SACRIFICED EVERYTHING TO GET HERE AND NOW–?!

“WHY are you HERE…?!” the boy cried.  Snot and sweat and tears ran down his face, until not even he could tell what was what anymore.  “I don’t want you to see me like this… it’s PATHETIC…!”

“No…”  Danny breathed, continuing to hold Vlad tight, never faltering.  “You have one effing friend who cares about you, better effing accept that.”

The man snorted at Vlad’s near scandalized expression through his tears.  “Yeah yeah, I cussed.  Twice.  I’m not made of rainbows and sugar, kid…”

His grin slipped back down into a concerned frown.  “Death, is NEVER the answer…  You want to know what you’re gonna do next?  You’re gonna heal up, get better.  Then, you’re gonna come live with me–”

“I can’t do–”

“SHUT UP.”  

The words came out a little harsher than Danny intended, but DAMMIT, this kid needed to LISTEN for once!  “It’s not fricking charity or pity or what ever the living frick frack you are thinking.  You are my FRIEND.  I HELP my friends!”  

Danny rolled his eyes a bit.  “I’ve been told I have a hero complex, I call it being a decent human being…

“So, you’re gonna come stay with me,”  he continued, voice set and determined.  “And we are gonna figure this out one step at a time, okay?  Life isn’t OVER.  It’s just stalled for now, okay?  Like you said, you have sacrificed too much… To just GIVE UP NOW.”

Vlad let out a weak laugh.  “You’ve always had a way with words, babe…” he whispered.

After a moment, the young man sighed – his arms resting at Danny’s sides and his head falling forward, all the fight drained out of him.  

“I don’t care anymore…” Vlad murmured, closing his eyes.  “Do what you want with me…”

“What I WANT,”  Danny said, arms cradling Vlad close and secure, always gentle but firm.  “Is to take care of you.  You’ve run yourself into the ground, gotten hurt… Let someone HELP you, okay?  Just this once?”

He sighed, feeling just as tired as Vlad likely did, both emotionally and physically drained.  “Just let me help you…”

“… It might be a while until they let me out of here…”

“I’ll wait.”

“…Danny?”

“Yes?”

Vlad snuggled closer, a rare peace settling over him. “…Thank you…”

 

~*~*~

 

Once she had come back in and given the boy a check-up, the nurse assigned two weeks of rest and then – under Vlad’s docile supervision – helped Danny unfold the couch into a one-person bed.  The older man left with a promise to return and kept it, bringing back a set of twin sheets, a laptop, and his phone… and so over the next three days, Danny rarely left Vlad’s side.  They surfed the internet, shared funny videos, and talked almost nonstop.  The only times Vlad was alone was when Danny went down to Andromeda to sneak them some real, non-hospital food.  They laughed and chatted, and Vlad showed improvement even over those few days.  He still looked half-dead, but a bit of light had returned to his eyes and smiles came easier.

On Sunday, he even had the energy to shoo Danny back to Andromeda with a small laugh.  “I’m not the only kid who needs you, y’know~” Vlad had chuckled.  “Go sleep at home.  Open the cafe and sell some coffee.”

Normally, Danny would have refused and stayed with him, but unfortunately he had a point.  He had water and electric bills to pay.  So, he got up, gave firm orders to pick up his skype call that evening, and left.

Vlad was reading when his laptop began to chime.  /Boop BOOP boop~/

The boy practically tossed his book and grabbed the computer, a smile already spreading over his face at the eagerness to see Danny again.  His presence was like a balm; he never realized how much better the older man made him feel until he was back~

He clicked on the icon to pick up the call.  A grainy video of Danny’s face appeared on the screen.

“Hey, cupcake~!” Vlad greeted, happily teasing.  “How was the drive home?”

“Boring,” came the reply, Danny’s voice sounding small and distant due to the electric interference.  “But!  I came up with an idea~”

Danny suddenly turned his phone around so that the camera was facing the inside of the shop.  Mainly, it was facing the door that lead to the fourth floor.  “Why don’t I give you an early tour of the place~?”

“Oh, yes, please~” Vlad nodded, snuggling into his pillow as the video played on.

“Great!  So, this is the entryway… and the living room, and the kitchen’s just over there–”

Vlad chuckled – his heart swelling as he watched Danny bustle about, showing him his bedroom, his kitchen, the living room, the various nooks and crannies.  He wasn’t listening, really.  He watched Danny… radiant even through the grainy quality of the video. It hadn’t really hit him until yesterday that he would be in a horrible place if not for Danny… and he really was grateful…

It made him feel a little guilty, to be honest…

“Hey, Danny?”

The older man paused in mid-sentence, glancing down at the camera.  The pixels took a moment to focus.  “Yeah?” he replied.  

Vlad hesitated – then glanced down at his keyboard.  “…I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For not listening to you about the portal thing,” the boy muttered.  He looked up at the screen imploringly.  “It’s just, I had already taken out a loan on the supplies and I felt like I had no choice, and I thought I could do it.  But… yeah.  Either way, you were right. And…”

He smiled gratefully.  “Thank you for being here for me.  Really.”

Danny sighed, shaking his head.  “Vlad, you don’t need to apologise.  I get it!  I really do!  Besides, all of this is in the past now.  It’s time to move forward.”

Danny turned the camera of his phone so he could look into it, unknowingly meeting Vlads eyes with his own soft blue ones.  “And for the record kid, there’s nothing to forgive.  You didn’t do anything wrong, none of this was your fault.  Sometimes, bad things just happen.  You gotta pick yourself up, and move on.  You still got a life to live, and I’m gonna help you make sure you live it to the fullest~”

“…Thanks…”

“Now, let me show where you where YOU will be staying.”

Vlad smiled earnestly.  “Okay…”

As Danny walked down the hall, the younger man sighed happily.  He really was lucky to have a–

Suddenly, Vlad’s legs dropped down.  The man let out a yelp of surprise, letting go of the computer in his shock.  “WHOAH!  Ahh–?!  I, shit…?!” he wailed.  Something was pulling his body down after them.  But that shouldn’t be possible, he was sitting on the–!!

Danny turned to look at his cell screen.  “Vlad?  You ok?”

“WAHH!!”

With a bang and a rustle of covers, Vlad had vanished from the screen.  His laptop fell the short distance to the empty blankets with a gentle thud, then the camera was still.

“Vlad?!”

A floor under Vlad’s room, a doctor was inconspicuously minding his own business as he made his way through the hall.  He most certainly wasn’t expecting a bony 19-year-old boy in a hospital gown to fall straight through the ceiling and right onto his head.

**CRASH!**

“OW!” Vlad shrieked – both from pain and surprise as he hit the ground with a SLAP of the tile.  He blinked up at the ceiling, brain spinning.  “Ahh…?!”

//WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?!//

 

~*~

 

“Vlad?  Vlad are you there, answer me?!”  Danny started growing concerned the longer it took for Vlad to respond.  “I mean it kid, if you don’t say something soon I’m heading back over there!”

Silence.

“Damn it…”  Danny turned around, grabbed his keys, and opened the door, intent on heading back to the hospital–!

Only to run straight into Valerie, who had been raising her fist just to knock at his door..  “Oh sorry, I– wait, Valerie?” Danny demanded, blinking in surprise.  “How’d you get in?  The cafe door is locked.”

The huntress scowled down at Danny.  “Hello to you, too!”

She walked inside.  “Oh, yeah, I broke the lock.  I’ll pay for a new one,” she informed him, sitting down on his couch.  “Danny, we need to talk.  You haven’t answered your private communicator in three damn DAYS, so I felt the need to come over in PERSON.”

Danny winced a little.  “Yeah, sorry, I’ve been a little busy–”

“Busy enough to miss three level-6 ghost attacks, two robberies, and Ember’s baby shower invitations.”

“IT’S CONFIRMED?”  Danny yelped, spinning around in search of the pile of mail he had brought in earlier.  “Crap crap crap, when’s the shower?  I can’t miss THAT, Ember will skin me alive and Skulker will hang it on his wall!”

He set his phone down, skype still on, while he sifted through his mail.  He looked up when he spotted Valerie still watching him unhappily.  “What?  Come on, Val, it’s not like you couldn’t handle those attacks or anything, that’s a CAKEWALK for you and you know it.  Wanna try again?”

Valerie huffed and stood up.  “Danny, you’re not getting this, are you?” she demanded.  “It’s not that I couldn’t HANDLE it that I’m upset, it’s the fact that if it had been a worse situation – or if I HADN’T been able to handle it, you wouldn’t have been there!!  Danny, I get that you feel responsible for this kid and you want him to make it, I really do!”

 

~*~

 

With several ardent apologies to the doctor he had so unceremoniously fallen upon, Vlad made his way back upstairs.  Had he literally just FALLEN an entire STORY through solid floor and ceiling?!  How was that even possible?!  

He had no explanation, but there HAD to be one.  There HAD to be!

 

~*~

 

Valerie sighed – calming herself – and continued.  “There are HUNDREDS of people that need you every day, and you would let them suffer so you can just sit and talk with ONE person who isn’t even in DANGER anymore?” she asked.

 

~*~

 

Frazzled, Vlad staggered back into his room and sat on his bed, re-entering the camera shot.  He opened his mouth, about to COMMENT on what had just happened…

Then Valerie’s tinny voice interrupted his thoughts.  

“You have more IMPORTANT responsibilities than trying to clean up the mess that some college kid made of his OWN life,” the Red Huntress implored of Danny.  “Man, I love you, but wake up and smell reality!  He’s a good kid, but after this, with the debt he’s going to be in?  The scholarships he’ll lose?  The loans he’ll have to repay?  That HOSPITAL BILL?  Does he even have insurance?!  What more will he become than a college dropout living off of your pity?”

Vlad felt like his heart had dropped into his gullet like a stone.

 

~*~

 

For a single beat, Danny was silent.  But when he did look up to meet Valerie’s gaze, she had to take a step back.  Because for once in her lifetime, the rage she had seen Phantom aim at those who harm, those they fight against to protect innocents…

That rage was directed at HER.

“How dare you…”  Danny hissed, his eyes glowing green in his anger.  “I get it, I do.  I messed up, I should have made sure I had a way for you to contact me.  But in all honesty, Val?  You could have effing called my cell.  You have BEFORE, so just STOP.”

He jabbed a finger in her direction, his long black tresses beginning to rise up and float around his face due to his sudden increase in ghostly energy, feeding off of his anger.  “You wanna play this game?  FINE.  Where were you for three weeks last year, when your father had a heart attack?  At his bedside, every day.  Even though, if I remember correctly, HE WAS ABSOLUTELY FINE.  I never said a word.  Hell, I ENCOURAGED you to stay there, because he is your father, and you love him.  So answer me this Val, am I supposed to just shove my worries, my feelings and emotions down, and keep on trucking for the greater good, even though I AM HURTING JUST AS MUCH AS THIS KID IS?  Are we to ignore those we care about, when they are in pain, in trouble, hurting, just because we need to what, fight for the GREATER GOOD?  WHOSE GREATER GOOD, VAL??”

“That’s not the same th–!”

He pushed a little into her space, clearly furious.  “We are meant to help people, and we DO.  But sometimes, certain people need more than the average rescue and a pat on the head.  That kid needs my help, and I WANT to help him, I WILL help him.  You know SHIT of the kind of situation that kid is in, and you want me to abandon him??  To just, move on, like nothing happened?  So that, what, he won’t burden me?”

His eyes narrow.  “Or so he won’t burden YOU?”

“I–!”

“That boy, that smart, wonderful, amazing young man has absolutely NO ONE in this world.  I am the ONLY one here, and more than willing, to help him!  Without me, do you know what could have happened?  He was ready to give up, Val, ready to just fade away.  I WON’T let that happen, because he has so much to live for!”

Valerie’s face sobered.  “I… I didn’t mean…”

His hair finally rested back down around his shoulders and the green of his eyes faded back to cold blue.  “I’ve been doing this job LONG before you came into the picture, Val, and I’ll be doing it long after you’re gone.  I know how to handle my life, and you have no right to tell me what I should, or shouldn’t do unless I’m actively becoming a danger or endangering someone.

“You need my help so bad?  Can’t reach me on my communicator?  Then call my damn cell, cause you have done so BEFORE.  This was never about me not being within reach, this was about HIM.  And you, are WAY OUT OF LINE.”

Valerie raised her hands in surrender, trying to calm him down.  “Okay, okay!” she replied.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean it like that.  Please… just…”

 

~*~

 

Back at the hospital, a shaking finger moved the mouse over the End Call button.

“Calm down.”

Vlad ended the call.

 

~*~

 

Danny took in a shaky breath, eyes closing as he forced himself to let the anger go.  He turned around to lean over his kitchen counter, head hung low as he breathed slowly, in and out, in and out…

“Damn it, Val…” he muttered, the anger faded and replaced with a heavy tone.  “You know better than to work me up like that…”

His hands came up to cradle his face, obscuring it from sight.  

Valerie hesitated, keeping her distance while Danny – quite literally – cooled down.  They tended to have these spats every once in a while.  They were close friends, of course they would!  She was actually one of the few people that could even rile him up at all… but she had never made him this angry before…

She swallowed, drumming her fingers on her thigh; a nervous tic.  Now that she thought about it, a lot of the things she had said about that kid… Wow.

“You’re right,” she admitted, looking at the floor.  “A lot of that was – no, all of that was out of line.  I could have called your cell phone and I didn’t.  I apologize.  I guess I didn’t realize that you kinda…”

Valerie shrugged awkwardly.  “…Loved the guy.”

Danny literally CRUMPLED.

He slid down the counter until he was sitting on the kitchen floor, big blue eyes lost and SCARED.  He looked up at Valerie, eyes misting.

“Oh god, Val… what am I going to do?”

His hands came up to tangle his fingers in his hair, pulling and tugging on the strands as if he were trying to punish himself.  “I… I’m in love with him.  I’m actually in love with this kid and I… Oh god Val, I can’t go through that again!  I can’t!”

He looked up at her, big shoulders starting to shake.  “Spectra… She was HERE a few nights ago, and even SHE knew!  I effing drew her in with my misery and–”

He cut himself off, trying to stop himself from actually breaking down even worse.

“…What do I do, Val?”

For a moment, Valerie stood there – stock still – staring down at Danny.  She hadn’t meant “love” like LOVE love!  She had just assumed it was more of a family love for that kid.  “Uh…” she stammered.  “H-His name was, um… Victor…?”

“Vladimir…”  Danny sniffed, wiping away a stray tear on his cheek.  “Vladimir Masters…”

“Right, uh… Vladimiar…”

Danny shot her a mild glare.  “VladiMIR.”

“VLAD DIH MEER.  Okay…”

Danny snorted, sniffling drying up to be replaced with soft giggles.  He still sat there, like a lost child on the kitchen floor, but hell!  At least she got him smiling again…

Valerie coughed a laugh – still struggling with the realization that her 28-year-old half ghost superhero of Amity Park was “IN LOVE” with a boy in the hospital that was ten years younger than he was.  //Good lord, Meer, how many people would want to be you right now and you don’t even realize…// she thought with a sigh.

After a minute, Valerie’s green eyes refocused on Danny’s trembling form.  

She hesitated for a moment longer.  But finally, she walked over to him, knelt down beside him, and… very awkwardly patted his forearm.

“There there…?  I, uh…”

Valerie groaned at the sound of her own VOICE.  “I’m sorry, Danny, you know I’m no good with emotional stuff,” she confessed.  “I wish I COULD give you some kind of advice…”

Danny chuckled again, shaking his head.  “Naw, it’s… It’s ok…  I think I gotta figure this one out on my own huh?  I’m just glad you’re here…”

He looked up at her, smiling.  “You’re like, one of my best friends, Val…  I’m glad you got my back.”

He sighed, finally climbing to his feet.  “Just um… could I ask you a favor?”

Valerie scrambled for something she COULD give an answer to.  “Sure, yeah!  Anything.”

She furrowed her brow as she considered that.  “Anything?”

The huntress refocused on Danny.  “Yeah, anything.”

He met her gaze steadily, eyes imploring her to grant him this one wish.  “Stop me from doing anything stupid.  You were there, last time this… this happened.  I don’t trust myself not to make the same mistakes…  So please…”

Blue eyes glimmered, pleading.  “Protect me?”

Valerie’s brows came together, her eyes gleaming determinedly as she squeezed his arm – maternal protectiveness bright in her gaze.  

“Always, baby boy.”

 

~*~*~

 

In the darkness of his hospital room, a overheated body convulsed under the covers.  The luminescent strips had burnt out entirely.  The room’s temperature had increased to over a hundred degrees in a matter of minutes.  Glass cracked in the windowpane.  The needles and wires monitoring body temperature and vital signs were spazzing out – glitching and fizzling and peeping anxiously in the dark.  

Vlad knew Danny wouldn’t abandon him.  He knew that.  He had heard the anger in his voice when it was implied, but… but he couldn’t shut his brain off!

A lightbulb in a nearby lamp exploded like a pop rock.

He hadn’t even begun to think about the financial side of this accident, not since he had been that portal light up green and explode in his face.  Valerie Grey was RIGHT.  He had missed all three finals.  Even if he headed back now, his final grades had to be lower than Cs!  He was going to lose his scholarships and once that happened, he was going to be SLAMMED with debt.  Coupled with the loans he had taken out for supplies and the hospital bill – oh god, the hospital bill.  He had no insurance.  He was looking at an initial base sum of almost a hundred thousand dollars WITHOUT interest!  He would spend the rest of his life working to pay that back.  He wouldn’t be able to get a decent job… Would never become anyone of any worth or importance… just a bum sleeping on someone’s couch working behind a counter for the rest of his life hello can I take your order would you like FRIES WITH THAT–!

“I need to get out…!” Vlad heard himself whisper.

He threw off the covers – not seeing them catch on fire as he went – and limped towards the door, throwing it open.  A nurse immediately spotted him.

“Hey, Vlad, it’s late!” she told him grouchily, needing her next cup of coffee five minutes ago.  She tried to take his arm.  “You need to get back in bed and–”

Vlad’s eyes flashed red.  “GET OFF ME!!”

Suddenly, the nurse was slamming into a wall at the opposite end of the ward.  She hit the ground, unconscious; Vlad ran the other way, panting, eyes flickering between red and a bright, maddened cobalt.  Maybe if he just moved fast enough!  Maybe there was a way to get back to Amity U and maybe he could FIX this before it all spiraled out of–!

An unearthly screech ripped from his chest as he slipped down through the floor again.  

A split second of darkness – like he had blinked – and then Vlad had crashed into the tiny welcoming office on the second floor.  The receptionist screamed as the edges of her paperwork caught fire and the air rippled with heat.  Vlad’s back hit the corner of the desk.  Pain shot up his spine; another ghostly shriek left his throat as the door flew open and security ran to grab him.

A big hand sealed around his arm, only for the flesh to sizzle and the security guard to let go, yelling “HOT!”  

Vlad’s body – not even listening to his panicking brain anymore – lunged at him.

Eyes glowed pure scarlet.  Fangs extended.  Smoke was filling the room.  Fire was catching.  Books and clothes were burning.

HISSSSSS–!!

**BONG!**

A reverberating crash echoed as the other guard bashed the lunging beast aside with a fire extinguisher.  Vlad was unconscious before he even hit the floor – rolling across the burning carpet and slamming against the wall, under the receptionist’s desk.  

A beat passed.

The young woman hid behind the guard, who barked a request for backup and the fire department into his walkie talkie.  Over the fetal position of the creature that he had knocked unconscious, the desk smoldered, then that, too, caught fire.  Sirens wailed in the distance.  Flame-retardant foam was sprayed hurriedly over it all…

Including Vlad’s limp, motionless body.


End file.
